Chapter 1- A New Diary
"Mum!" Ginny shouted from her bedroom, as she walked down in her night dress. "Mum, my diary is full! I need a new one."
"Ginny, I know how much you like those, but it might not be possible right now," he mother said, wiping down the counters in the kitchen. "With all the supplies we'll have to get, we're just going to have to wait and see if your father and I have the extra pocket money for it."
"But Mum," Ginny began to protest, "I've done all my chores all summer, and you promised me that—"
"I know what I promised, Ginny, but we might have to wait on the diary for a couple more months. We weren't expecting Percy to be named Prefect," her mother said, looking sincerely at Ginny. "I'm sorry, darling, but there are just certain things that are more important than a diary right now."
"Fine," Ginny said. "Can I at least get new robes then? At least one set?And maybe one in purple for the weekends?"
Her mum looked as though she were stewing over this. "Maybe new," she said. "I'll talk to your father about it, but you're going to have to wait for anything more colorful than what the school requires."
Ginny smiled and hugged her mother around her middle. "Thanks Mum," she said, then ran off up to her room to clean it.
New robes, she thought as she folded her laundry. She looked over at her old diary. She had managed to make it last for a little more than a year. She had hoped it would have lasted longer, but with how lonely things became when Ron left, Ginny couldn't help but spend more time than usual writing. With a sigh she opened it to the last page, which had words crammed into the margins. There wasn't enough room for her to sign her name, as she normally did at the end of each entry. "Oh well," she said, glad that at least she had some hope at getting clothes that weren't second hand. She started thinking of how she might be able to make her own diary, but she had little paper left, and wanted to save that in case she needed to write any letters.
One particular piece of parchment had been folded in half, decorated and put under her bed. "Mum, I need to use Errol!" Ginny heard Ron shout while running past her room down the stairs. She opened her door slightly to listen to what was going on below.
"Why?" their Mum asked.
"It's Harry's birthday," he said. "Or at least I think it is."
Ginny blushed as she shut the door. Harry Potter was now twelve. "Wow," she muttered, then went to her bed, lifting the shabby bed skirt and pulling out a homemade card from the darkness underneath the fabric. She looked at it again and went over to her desk, adding a couple more squiggly lines with the few markers she had. It was simple. On the front, is was limited to three words: "Happy Birthday Harry", and on the inside was a bit of a disclaimer.
"I heard it was your birthday, and thought you might like to have a few greetings.
Ginny (Ron's little sister)"
She had made the last explanation after Ron brought her to the realization that Harry Potter wouldn't know who she was.
Poking a hole in the corner, Ginny added a red ribbon to the edge and snuck out back. She waited for five minutes before Errol came out of the kitchen. "You better get it there," Ron said from inside.
Ginny stalked after the owl until she was out of earshot to anyone sitting around in the kitchen. "Errol," she said in a sweet tone, holding out a piece of stale bread. The owl did as it always had: came straight to Ginny.
"That's a good owl," she coaxed. Carefully, she tied the card to Errol's leg. "Safe journey," she said, petting Errol softly before letting him go. With a deep breath, she walked back to the house with nothing to do but day dream about the letter Harry Potter might respond with, thanking her for the thoughtful card.
Ginny woke up a few mornings later, smelling the food cooking downstairs. Ginny had skipped dinner the night before, not feeling well after trying one of the treats George offered her, and was now ravishing with hunger. Most of the time, Ginny would try and get changed before breakfast, but she didn't bother.
Huge mistake.
She walked through the narrow hallway and into the kitchen, opening her mouth to ask her mum a question when she saw a glimpse of untidy, black hair. Ginny's eyes went wide before a little squeak escaped her lips and she turned around to leave. He had been looking at her… Harry Potter… looking at her…. Ginny Weasley. She felt her face turning red as she ran up the stairs, two steps at a time.
Why didn't they tell me he was coming? she wondered as she changed her clothes. Nothing was good enough, though. Every outfit she thought about wearing was too worn out or looked too childish. She wondered what he would say concerning the card she made. A personal 'thank you' was much better than the written one she had imagined.
Standing in a camisole and shorts, Ginny heard her brother coming up the stairs with Harry. She didn't dare go out on the landing, but looked out her door as they approached. Harry's green eyes met hers and Ginny shut the door quickly, pressing her back against it with a smile, a blush, and a sigh.
Ginny had spent the week following hiding away in her room or knocking things over when Harry would unexpectedly walk into a room… or expectedly for that matter. This morning, it was her porridge. Diving beneath the table, Ginny felt her entire face and neck heat up in embarrassment. She stayed under the table as long as she could without drawing attention, coming up having unsuccessfully changed her color to an even deeper beet red.
"Letters from school," her dad said, giving Ginny something else to concentrate on. She had been waiting all summer for this, part of the time wondering if she would get one—although memories of exploding vases lessened this doubt—and anticipating what it would be like to open her own, even though she knew it would say the exact same thing as each of her brothers' did.
She immediately flipped to the second piece of parchment where the book list was written. Lockhart, Lockhart, Lockhart, Lockhart… Ginny's excited grin turned gradually to a frown as she realized how much these were going to cost. She then leaned over to where George was holding his own list and saw the same books. She wondered if they'd be able to share the sets, though the more logical side of Ginny knew this wasn't a possibility.
As to affirm, her own mother's words hit her after the original wave of disappointment, "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand."
On top of this, Harry caught Ginny off guard by a question of his own. "Oh are you starting Hogwarts this year?"
In addition to the bright red nod, Ginny tried to straighten herself up and seem more mature, but ended up with her elbow in the butter. She looked around, waiting for one of her brothers to mention it, but it seemed as if she had at least the little amount of fortune that made them miss this blunder. Still she continued to blush, knowing Harry couldn't have missed that after only a moment before his attention was on her.
Ginny sat, trying very hard not to spill—or set any limbs into—her food while her mother asked what everyone was planning to go play Quidditch up the hill. I wish they'd let me go, Ginny thought, pinning over the day dream that Harry would see her flying and think her a fantastic player… especially for a girl. Of course the odds showed that she had never been invited by her brothers before, and she certainly didn't think it would happen now. Maybe that's for the better, she reminded herself as she wiped a bit more of the grease off her elbow with a napkin.
When all the boys had left, Ginny started cleaning dishes; one of the chores she had to do to get a new diary before the start of term. "Ginny, dear, I wanted to talk to you," her mother said, standing next to her. "I know you've worked hard all summer, but these book lists—"
"Mum, you promised me," Ginny said, letting out the hurt and disappointment that was swelling inside of her. "I did my part."
"I know," Molly said, looking at her daughter with sympathy. "I know I promised, but five sets of Lockhart books… and your father is already working so many hours over as it is."
"Fine," Ginny said, then turned to pout into the sink of dishes as she cleaned.
"Why don't you go play Quidditch with your brothers? I think your father's old broom is out in the shed," Molly suggested.
"They don't want me there," Ginny said.
"Now that's not true."
"They said they play too rough for me to play," Ginny told her mum. "I'll just go later."
"Is there anything else you wanted to do?" Molly asked in an obvious attempt to make up for the broken promise.
"Yeah," Ginny snapped, "write in my diary."
With that, Ginny placed the last plate to dry and turned around before Molly could say anything else. She went up to her room to sulk.
Ginny had spent the entire day avoiding her mother, even at dinner when Molly asked her what she had done, Ginny had limited it to 'nothing, really' before taking a bite out of her chicken so she wouldn't be able to talk. Her dad was missing from dinner again. Ginny suspected he would be back by breakfast the next morning, as he almost always was.
When Ginny poured herself a glass of water, she saw Harry just over the rim of her glass and wondered if he thought she was a snooty rude little girl. Ginny bit her bottom lip and contemplated this well into the evening and found herself unable to sleep as several thoughts about what Harry Potter might think of her spilt into her mind.
Ginny looked over at her clock and saw that it was nearing midnight. Restless and thirsty, Ginny stole away to go downstairs for a quick drink of water. As she approached the kitchen, Ginny noticed the light on from across the hallway. Immediately her mind jumped to the idea of Harry sitting at the table, also unable to sleep. What would she say? Should she go up and change? She looked down at the thinning nightgown and decided to run up the stairs for a robe quickly, then came back down, this time noticing a sobbing on the other side of the door.
Ginny stepped into the kitchen quietly, seeing her mother's hands entangled in her fading red hair, the palms pressing against her forehead. Ginny noticed pieces of parchment spread across the table, one book opened that Ginny recognized: the accounting book her parents used to keep track of the money that came and went.
"Mum?" Ginny said with caution, now completely in the room.
Molly immediately waved the papers back into a neat stack sitting on the rickety desk that sat to the right of door connecting to the living room. "Oh honey," she said, stopping her tears and wiping away the others. "I didn't realize you were up."
"I couldn't sleep," Ginny said, taking a step towards the table.
"Me either," her mother responded, standing up. "Shall I make us some tea?" she added.
"No, that's okay," Ginny said. "I just need some water. Why couldn't you sleep?"
"Your father is working late again," Molly said. "I was just taking care of some business since insomnia set in," she added with a forced smile in an attempt to overshadow her original statement.
Ginny bit her bottom lip, her eyes wandering to where the stack of bills sat. "I don't need new robes, Mum," she said quietly. "And I can make a diary or something," she added.
Molly turned from the stove where she was boiling water and enveloped Ginny in a hug. "Oh my darling girl," she said. "I'm terribly sorry, but we're still trying alright?" she said.
Ginny put her arms around her mother and nodded as her tears started to well up.
"What am I going to do without you here?" Molly asked, pulling Ginny away and looking her in the eyes with a smile. "My baby girl is going off to school."
"I'm not a baby anymore," Ginny said.
"You'll always be mine," Molly responded with a wink and a kiss on Ginny's forehead. "Why don't you get some water and get some rest," she added.
Ginny followed orders and fell to sleep as quickly as she could—an hour later.
A/N: This is an idea that's long in coming, so I hope people enjoy it. Keep in mind, quite a few of the scenarios and even what some of the characters say are directly from the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to keep it as close to the book as possible, though I'll try and make this my own writing as possible… it won't be a compilation of the scenes Ginny is actually in and just changing the point of view… it's more trying to fill in what had happened to Ginny throughout this ect….
Hope you enjoy! If you do… review!